Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:20 AM ET

IOVA max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.09
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$7.5-46.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.55±32.3% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.3311K puts / 34K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV30112.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$289Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $3

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$11-21.9%4d
Fri, Nov 6$12.5-11.3%11d
Fri, Nov 13$14-0.6%18d
Fri, Nov 20$12.5-11.3%25d
Fri, Nov 27$14.5+2.9%32d
Fri, Dec 4$14-0.6%39d
Fri, Dec 18$7.5-46.8%53d
Fri, Jan 15$8-43.2%81d
Fri, Mar 19$7.5-46.8%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7.51611152025$43M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 7.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot7.512.545.512.52012K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IOVA open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

Open-interest change: building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration; the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot7.512.545.512.5203737
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2611162025356%89%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 99.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 312.545.512.520+$144K−$144K
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.0040.00420.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.004.50.00520.00-0.00-0.02
0.98-0.0050.00640.00-0.00-0.02
0.97-0.015.50.00800.00-0.00-0.03
0.94-0.017.50.01770.01-0.01-0.06
0.85-0.01100.03940.01-0.01-0.15
0.69-0.0212.50.06240.02-0.02-0.30
0.52-0.02150.07180.02-0.02-0.48
0.36-0.0217.50.06750.02-0.02-0.63
0.25-0.02200.05660.02-0.02-0.75
0.17-0.0122.50.04450.01-0.01-0.83
0.12-0.01250.03390.01-0.01-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot26.510.513.516.519.57K0
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot0.55.510.515.520.525.549K49K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 270K call contracts, 156K put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: IOVA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk